The Distinction Between Lying and Pretending

In 4 experiments, the capacity of children and adults to distinguish pretending from lying was investigated. Children aged 4 to 7 years heard a series of short narratives in which the main character made a factually incorrect statement, either because he or she was trying to deceive someone or because he or she was pretending. By 5 years of age, children were able to describe or give examples of both lying and pretending and to comment on the difference between the 2, but in many cases they labeled statements that were intended to be pretend as lies. A follow-up study revealed a similar degree of ambiguity in adult judgments of these statements. However, when the stories were constructed to portray the most familiar types of pretending (e. g., taking on the role of another person), children as young as 4 had no difficulty distinguishing pretend statements from lies.